Face Down
by This is a Creative Name
Summary: Jack loves Kim, but she's dating Dexter Poe. When he finds out that he's abusing Kim, how far will Jack go to save her? Song Fic for Kack, Kick, or Jim, which ever you call them, using Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus!


**Disclaimer: Yes, I own Kickin' It and Jack and Kim. (Please note the sarcasm) I do own Dexter Poe, however.**

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><p><em>Hey girl, you know you drive me crazy <em>_one look puts the rhythm in my hand. _

_Still I'll never understand why you hang around_

_ I see what's going down. _

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><p>Jack was sitting with Jerry, Eddie, and Milton when he first noticed something was wrong. He wasn't stupid, though he wasn't as smart as Milton or Kim, but he did notice things. Well, he noticed the big things, and that was good enough…right? Wrong.<p>

The four friends were all eating lunch and goofing off as typical teenage boys do when Jack saw Kim walk into the cafeteria. He had always thought she was cute, no beautiful…but something was off. Since when did Kim wear a black turtle neck? Um, never. Jack knew for a fact that Kim hated turtle necks because they made her neck feel too constricted.

Jack watched as Kim quickly began to walk towards another table, but he wasn't having that. After all, they were her best friends, right? Who else would she sit with?

"Kim! Over here!" He shouted, waving her over. But no, Kim just kept walking. In fact, she began staring at the floor and she quickened her pace. Jack frowned and stood up, walking over to his speedy friend.

"Hey Kim!" Jack called out, catching up to her. When he was close enough, he grabbed her wrist like he often did. Jack never hurt her, he would never dream of that. No, they just grabbed each others wrists when they wanted the other one's attention. But from the look on Kim's face said it all. Jack quickly dropped her wrist and looked at her, slightly shocked. "What's the matter?" He asked, studying her eyes, which were lowered to the floor.

"I just…I hurt my wrist yesterday at the dojo. I hit the dummy to hard and it's sore." Kim said, looking up to meet his eyes. Jack stared at her a second, not believing her. After a minute, he just nodded. He'd except the excuse, for now. After all, he had no proof.

"I'm just going to go sit with Dex today, okay?" Kim said, breaking eye contact.

"Fine, whatever. Why would you need my permission?" Jack said bitterly. It was no secret to anyone (except Kim) that Jack hated Dexter Poe. Heck, even Dexter knew it. Well, Jack didn't hate him for any real reason, except that he was dating Kim, who Jack had a huge crush on. Jack had had a crush on Kim since he met her three years ago, and then Dexter, or Dex as Kim called him, waltzed in and started dating Kim, which was enough to make Jack hate him.

"I just, I mean…I always eat with you guys! I thought you'd like to know that I'm going to be eating with Dex." Kim said, beginning to turn around.

"But we'll see you at the dojo, right?" He asked her.

"I don't know." Kim said quietly, beginning to walk away.

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><p><em>Cover up with make up in the mirror<em>

_ tell yourself, it's never gonna happen again_

_ you cry alone and then he swears he loves you. _

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><p>Kim stared at the now stinging bright red mark on her face. It was in sharp contrast with her normally slightly tan skin, making her look very different than usual. Kim wished that she could make it go away; she had to go to the dojo in ten minutes. If any of them saw it, they'd demand to know what happened, and Kim couldn't tell them. No, she didn't want to get Dex in trouble. No one understood him like she did. She saw that he was rough around the edges, but she still liked him. Yes, she knew he was dangerous, but who didn't love a thrill?<p>

Besides, he was devilishly handsome and he was smart. Dexter Poe certainly had it all, including herself. That's who most people knew her as, 'Dexter's Girl.' Did she like being known as that? She supposed so. Still, Kim loved cheerleading and she was the captain of the squad, why couldn't see be known as that? Or the star reporter for the school's news show? It was always "Who are you again?" "Oh, I'm Kim Crawford…" "Oh right! Dexter's girl!"

Dexter's social status certainly preceded him. He was the pitcher for the baseball team and he was a member for the Black Dragon gang. They were still enemies with the Wasabi Warriors, but Dexter and Kim dating seemed to have _almost_ smoothed things out between them…almost. Jack still hated the Black Dragons.

"Jack." She whispered quietly, staring at her face still. He would explode if he saw her like this. She had grown a lot closer to him over the last few years and she used to have a crush on him…then Dex moved to town and he was gorgeous and interested in her. Kim still liked Jack, but he had never made his move. Sure, he had asked her to get burgers three years ago, but he had never asked her to hang out since then. Now, she was sure he thought of her as a little sister or something. But, regardless of there friendship status, he would still freak out if he saw the place were Dex had hit her.

He had hit her before, but that had been an accident. They were sparing, just goofing off and stuff when she missed blocking him. He had hit her in the gut and that must have triggered something…something darker than Kim liked. Since then, it seemed Dex looked for excuses to hit her, even stupid ones. If it had been anyone else, Kim would have flipped him and dumped him, but it was Dex! She was sure he'd come to his senses soon; this was just a phase…_right_? She hoped so.

Even still, this slap had been pretty hard. Kim had been joking that the Wasabi Warriors would crush the Black Dragons at there up-coming tournament. It had been a _joke_. Dex had looked at her with an almost hateful look in his eyes and slapped her, saying that the Black Dragons would crush them. Kim had reeled back and looked at him shocked. Seeing her face, Dex immediately looked sorry.

"K, you know I didn't mean it. I'm sorry! I love you!" He had insisted, reaching out a hand towards her.

"Just…just stay away from me!" Kim had shouted, turning and running. She knew very well that she would forgive him later tonight, but she had felt so hurt then! Now, she just wanted the pain to stop.

A single tear escaped as Kim reached form her concealor. Kim angrily wiped it away, then applied the make up to her red face.

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><p><em>Do you feel like a man when you push her around?<em>

_ Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?_

_ Well I'll tell you my friend, _

_one day this world's going to end _

_as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found. _

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><p>Kim had been a few minutes late to practice, but this hadn't gone unnoticed by her fellow warriors.<p>

"Hey, sorry I'm late…I was with Dex…" She said, walking in and dropping her bag on the ground near the door.

"You didn't tell him anything about our strategy, did you?" Rudy asked suspiciously.

"What strategy?" Jerry had asked with a small snort and everything had been normal…almost. But Kim noticed Jack watching her a lot more. Kim chose to ignore it and really threw herself into her spars, working up a nice sweat.

"Kim, what happened to your face?" Eddie had asked half-way threw there sparing match. At this, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

"What?" She asked, pretending to not know what they were talking about. Her concealor must have come off.

"Your face…it's red and swollen. It looks like you were slapped." Rudy told her, walking closer to her. He looked at it, then cautiously touched the red, swollen area of Kim's face.

"Ow!" She had hissed when his hand came into contact with her face.

"Did someone hit you?" Jack asked, going ballistic like Kim had predicted. He walked over, standing next to Rudy. Jack was studying her face, which made her feel slightly self-conscious.

"What? No! Well, we've been sparing all afternoon…" Kim lied.

"Come on, this needs ice." Rudy said, leading her back towards his office. Jack, Jerry, Eddie, and Milton looked like they wanted to follow, but Rudy just shook his head.

"Look Kim, if someone hit you, you need to tell me." He told her after shutting his office's door. Kim watched as he got some ice, wrapped in in a towel, then handed it to her.

"No one hit me, Rudy." Kim lied again. Rudy studied her for a second before nodding.

"Okay, I believe you." He told her, while Kim smiled at him and put the cool ice against her face.

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><p><em>A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect<em>

_ every action in this world will bear a consequence_

_ If you wade around forever you will surely drown_

_ I see what's going down. _

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><p>"I want you to quit the Wasabi Warriors." Dex said in a calm voice. He looked at her in way the seemed to say "Do as I say and I won't do anything to make you regret it."<p>

"What? I can't quit! Those guys are my family!" Kim said, leaping to her feet. The couple had been studying at Dexter's house when out of the blue, he had told her the worst news ever.

"Exactly, those _GUYS_! I'm your boyfriend, yet those boys see you more than I do. Kim, I want it to stop, understand?"

"Are you jealous of them? Seriously? They're like my brothers! You have nothing to be jealous of!"

"I'm not jealous." He snapped. "I just don't like four other teenage boys seeing my girlfriend more often then I do. Now, you are going to quit and that's final!" Dexter said, grabbing her shoulder roughly. He began to squeeze in until Kim let out a gasp of pain. All those years of karate really paid off, for she grabbed his hand and flipped him over.

"No! I'm not going to quit! You can just get over this because I like it there!"

"Wrong decision." Dexter said, standing up and glaring at her.

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><p><em>I see the way you go and say you're right again,<em>

_ say you're right again_

_ heed my lecture _

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><p>Jack had forgotten his English book over at Kim's house when they were studying the other day, so he decided to pop in and get it.<p>

He hadn't forgotten the nasty slap mark on Kim's face from the other day; in fact, he thought about it often. No matter how many times Kim insisted no one had hit her, Jack could tell it was a slap mark. There wasn't any other excuse for the swollen cheek and red face. Jack had tried to think of who could have hit her, but he had come up short. He had thought it was Dexter for awhile, but then his conscience had convinced him that that was just his hatred for the boy talking. It could have been anyone. But who would want to hit someone like Kim?

Jack knocked on her door, waiting for someone to answer. He was shocked at who, or what, answered the door. Standing there was Kim, or at least what he decided Kim would look like if she had a black eyes, busted lip, a swollen cheek, and several other visible bruises on her body.

"Jack?" She gasped. Well, it had sounded more like "Whack?" with her busted lip, but that was besides the point.

"Kim? What happened to you?" He asked, stepping into her house. Jack didn't care that she might not want him inside, he was going to get down to the bottom of this mystery.

"I fell." He heard her mumble.

"You did not just use the lamest and oldest excuse in the book." Jack said, grabbing her wrist very, very gently and leading her to her kitchen. He had been in the Crawford's house enough times to know where it was and where they kept the first aid kit.

"Would you believe I was hit by a bus?" Kim tried.

"Nope. Now, who did this to you?" He asked, trying to control his temper. If he got angry and started yelling like he wanted to do, it would only scare Kim more. She needed Calm Jack right now.

"I…I can't tell you. You'll kill him." She said while Jack opened the first aid kit and began fixing Kim up.

"It's Dexter isn't it?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady. Kim only nodded; that was enough for him. Jack turned around and began walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" Kim asked, following him.

"To kill him."

"No!" Kim said, standing in front of the door.

"Kim, he hurt you really bad. Please, let me go beat him senseless." Jack almost begged, glaring at the door.

"No! Jack, if you go kill him, then you could go to jail!"

"Kim, HE DESERVES TO GO TO JAIL! HE HIT YOU!" He shouted, finally losing his temper. One look at Kim though, and he stopped cold in his tracks.

She was glaring at him with such a hatred, Jack staggered backwards.

"Jack! Stop! We just got in a little fight! I've told you before, I can take care of myself. You're forgetting that we're both black belts!" Kim said, still glaring at him. Her normally-pretty brown eyes were flashing dangerously.

"Kim! That obviously wasn't a little fight! Look at yourself! He beat the crap out of you and you're defending him? Kim, he's a monster! And I know you can take care of yourself, but you don't have to fight every battle alone…just remember, the guys and I are here for you. Let us help you, please?" Somewhere in the middle of him mini-speech, Jack had lost all of his anger. He just wanted to help Kim now. Kim's face had lost it's hardness too.

"Jack…I'm fine. Just let me handle this one, okay? I promise, the next time he hurts me I'll call you and the guys, okay? Just, let this one go. Trust me, things will be a whole lot easier for all of us if you just stay out of it."

"But that's the thing Kim, I don't want to stay out of it! You're my best friend! I hate seeing you hurt; it hurts me to see you like this!" Jack said, taking a step closer to her. Kim looked at him with pleading eyes, begging him to drop it. "But…fine. Next time he hurts you in any way, you call me, okay?" Jack told her. Kim nodded and stepped away from the door.

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><p><em>Do you feel like a man when you push her around?<em>

_ Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?_

_ Well I'll tell you my friend,_

_ one day this world's going to end_

_ as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found. _

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><p>Jack had said he wouldn't hurt Dexter, but he had said nothing about talking to him. So, he had gone to the boy after school, telling him they had to talk.<p>

"Why do we need to talk, Jack? I know you hate me." Dexter said innocently.

"We have to talk because I know what's going on between you and Kim. I know you hit her a lot, Dexter. As her best friend, I'm telling you now that it has to stop. I'm a black belt and I won't hesitate to use my karate skills on you if she gets hurt one more time." Jack said, keeping his voice steady.

"What? That's ridiculous! I'd never hit Kim! She's my girlfriend, after all. I love her. If you ask me, you're just making up lies because you're jealous that she likes me and not you." Dexter said, glaring at Jack. "And besides, I'm a black belt as well, Jack. You don't scare me."

"Well I should, because you're right. I do like her, but I was to scared to tell her and then you came along. Trust me, I wish I had told her before a jerk like you came along. If she was my girlfriend, I'd never hurt her. I'd do everything in my power to make sure she never cried, unlike you. You really don't see how great she is, do you? Well one day, she's going to realize how terrible you are and she'll dump you; then you'll see how lucky you were to be with her in the first place." Jack said, turning and leaving. He was so mad that he felt like punching something, but he knew he couldn't hit Dexter without ruining any chance he ever had with Kim.

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><p><em>Face down in the dirt, she said, <em>

_this doesn't hurt, she said,_

_I finally had enough._

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><p><em>"Buzzzz….Buzzzzz….Buzzzzzzzzz."<em> Jack reached out and sleepily grabbed his phone from his bedside table.

"Hello?" He asked groggily. Jack was so tired, he didn't even check the caller ID.

_"Jack?"_ A small voice asked from the other side. Jack knew that voice anywhere, he had actually been dreaming about that voice a few minutes ago.

"Kim? Are you okay?" Jack asked, waking up a bit more. He looked at the clock sitting on the bedside table and watched the red numbers slowly change to **1:47**.

_"Um, not exactly…Remember when I told you I could handle it? Well, I think I might need your help…"_ She said quietly.

"What happened?" Jack demanded, getting out of bed and walking over to his closet. Balancing his phone between his ear and shoulder, he grabbed a pair of jeans and set them down on his bed. Jack slept in only a t-shirt and his boxers, like most boys his age.

_"Well, I got home from the dojo at around eight and remember how I told you my parents were visiting my aunt?"_ She paused. _"Well anyway, I got home and ordered a pizza, like I usually do when my parents are out. I ate, took a shower, watched some TV, then went to bed at ten. I woke up at twelve to someone knocking on the door downstairs._

_"It was Dexter, he…he was really angry, Jack. He came inside, shouting about how I was such a whiny little baby. I asked him what he was talking about, but that only made him madder. Finally, after yelling at me for thirty minutes, he told me that someone had gone up to him after school and told them that he was a terrible boyfriend and a bunch of other stuff. I really didn't understand half of the stuff he was saying, he was acted drunk. Anyway, then he really started scaring me. I ran up to my room and locked the door, but I think he's still in the house. He keeps screaming things at me and every once in awhile he'll knock on my door. I would just flip him and make him leave, but last time I tried that he _really _hurt me._

_"Could you just come over and make him leave, Jack? I know it's really late, but he won't listen to me. I've told him that he needs to leave, but that only makes him madder."_ Kim finished. Jack was so angry, I thought he would explode.

"I'll be over in ten minutes." He said. "And if anything else happens, call me back, okay?" Jack hung up before she answer. After quickly putting on the clothes he had laid out, he snuck downstairs and out the door.

True to his word, he was there in ten minutes. Kim hadn't called him back, so he assumed that she was alright. He opened the door to Kim's two-story house (she hadn't locked it back after letting Dexter inside) and walked in.

"Kim?" He called out when he didn't see Dexter or Kim.

"JACK! HURRY!" He heard her perfect Southern accent calling from her room. Jack quickly ran upstairs and his heart almost stopped. Her door was laying, broken in half, on the floor. Jack sprinted inside, praying that Kim was okay.

"Kim!" He screamed, taking in the sight in front of him. Kim was laying on the floor, looking scared out of her mind. She was laying in a small pool of blood, and she had another black eye already forming. Dexter was standing above her, about to kick her. That sight alone made Jack's blood boil.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" He shouted, tackling the other boy to the ground. Normally, he would just use his karate skills, but this was different. The teenage boy in him was making him fight with his fists. Jack began punching Dexter, all of his anger coming in full force. After a minute of him having the upper hand, Dexter flipped them over and began to punch Jack. Obviously, he was angry too. The two boys continued to fight until Jack saw someone tugging Dexter off of him.

"STOP IT!" Kim screamed, pulling them apart. This seemed to make Dexter angrier, because he back-handed her across the face.

"Leave her alone!" Jack shouted, hitting Dexter again.

_"Hello?"_ Another voice called out from downstairs. This confused all of them, but they barely flinched. They kept fighting until all three of them were pulled apart. Now, their were four police officers in the room. Two alone were being used to keep Dexter away from Jack and Kim, and they were both being held back as well.

"Everyone calm down! Now, what's going on?" The one holding Jack shouted. All three of the teenagers were quiet for a minute. The only noise that could be heard was Dexter struggling to get out of the police officer's grip.

"Tell them, Kim." Jack said, looking his best friend in the eyes. She sighed before stepping out of the police officer's reach. His grip on her had relaxed when he realized she had stopped struggling.

"Okay. Dexter, the tall boy with black hair, is my boyfriend. He got mad at me and started yelling at me, so I called Jack. Dexter broke my door in half before Jack got here, then he began hitting me. Jack came in a few minutes later and they began fighting. When I saw that Dexter was hurting Jack, I tried to pull them apart, but then Dexter hit me again, making Jack angry. You came in while we were fighting. Now, may I ask why you're here?" She asked, looking at the man who had been holding her back.

"We got a call from your neighbors. They heard shouting and asked if we could come check it out. I guess it's a good thing we did when we did." He said. Kim nodded.

"Well, it seems you're to blame for this, Son." The officer holding Jack said to Dexter, making him madder. "I think you'd better come with us." He said, nodding his head to the door. The other three officers began to half drag, half carry him down the stairs, because he was still trying to get loose. The police officer let Jack go and looked at the two teenagers in front of him.

"You two get some sleep. Call me if something else happens, I'm Officer Shay by the way. Here's my number." Officer Shay said, reaching into his pocket and handing Kim a card. She nodded her head.

"Okay. Thank you, Officer." She said. He nodded and left, leaving Jack and Kim alone.

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><p><em>Do you feel like a man when you push her around?<em>

_ Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?_

_ Well I'll tell you my friend,_

_ one day this world's going to end_

_ as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found. _

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><p>Dexter's trial had been held the following week. People at school had had many different opinions about what had actually happened the night he was arrested, but so many people were wrong. A lot of the Black Dragons and baseball kids seemed to think she was lying. After all, none of them had ever seen the dark side of Dexter, why should they believe her?<p>

But, Kim still had her friends. They had all been ticked off and hurt that she hadn't told them sooner, but they still loved her none the less. All of them had been supportive of her and none of them had been too angry with her. They all saw her as their little, dangerous sister, but it still made them slightly uncomfortable to think of her as some sort of damsel in distress so Kim had insisted that they didn't. She threatened them, and they saw that she was hurt, but not defenseless.

Jack was a different story entirely. He couldn't get the sight of her laying on the ground in a pool of her own blood out of his mind. Still, they were friends. Jack knew that they would never go back to the way they were before they met Dexter, but did he want to? No, he did want that. He wanted to be there for her no matter what, even if that meant letting her vent about all the stuff that had happened. Jack loved her, there was no doubt in his mind.

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><p><em>Face down in the dirt,<em>

_ she said, this doesn't hurt__,_

_ she said,I finally had enough._

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><p>"Kim?" Jack asked Kim one day as they were sparing. A whole blissful year had gone by since the whole Dexter ordeal and in that time Jack and Kim had grown closer. No one could even begin to describe their friendship, it was so complex. Even up until a few months ago, Jack had been Kim's crutch. He had kept her sane through the trial and afterwards, making sure she was okay. Kids at school hadn't exactly been all that nice to her, but he always made sure she knew that they were jerks and liars. Kim would never forget that. She had realized that some time through the year, she had began to love Jack. Not like, but love; Kim really began to know what love was. It wasn't hurting someone and saying sorry for it, it wasn't screaming at someone until you're hoarse. No, it was always wanting the person to be happy, to never want them to feel pain at all. Kim loved Jack and Jack loved Kim. It was a simple as that.<p>

"Yes, Jack?" She asked, stopping; Jack stopped sparing as well.

"Kim, I love you, you know that, right?" He said, searching her eyes.

"Yes, of course I do. I love you too."

"No, like…I love you, love you. Not like a sister."

"I know. I love you, love you too, Jack." She said with a small smile. Jack smiled in relief, then hesitantly leaned in and kissed her. To them, their relationship was simple, but to everyone else it was very complex indeed.

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><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! So, what'd you think? Good, bad, ugly? I was proud with how it turned out, but y'know -shurgs-. Anyway, I had a lot of fun reading this, so I was thinking of doing a series of Song Fics for Kack or Jack/Kim, but I'm not sure. If you liked this one, please leave a review and if you want me to make this a series of Song Fics, then review with that as well. Also, I worked really hard on this so I'd really love some reviews. If I did do the series, they wouldn't connect with one another unless I get asked for a two-shot, and if you want me to use a certain song, please review with your ideas! I love you guys! **

**- This is a Creative Name**


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